Frank E. Best, Inc. held the original patents, while Best Universal Lock Corporation was licensed to manufacture and sell the products.

Frank Best's oldest son, Walter Best, owned the majority shares of the three Best companies and served as President from 1966 through 1994 and it was during his tenure that the full line of mechanical lock hardware was developed.

On November 25, 2002, all holdings of Russell Best, who had acquired all the outstanding stock of the minority shareholders of the three businesses in 1997 in "a legally challenged transaction",[3] were purchased by Stanley Black & Decker.

In 2005, family members of those that Russell Best had ousted from the original company began a new enterprise - Marshall Best Security - in the same Indianapolis community and producing the same types of interchangeable cores and related commercial hardware.

Subsequently, Falcon was able to continue to produce housings and develop its own very similar core line to compete with Best Universal Lock.